Anyone got a RS230KT ?
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Taffy Turner
Established Member
Hi CD,
I have one of those. It is OK for hollowing small items, but isn't very practical for larger project for two reasons:-
1) The cutter is very small, so removing large amounts of wood takes AGES.
2) The handle isn't really long enough, so if you are working in the bottom of a deep (more than 6") vessel, it is hard to control the cutter, which results in a lot of vibration, which gets very tiring very quickly. :?
If you only intend using it on small hollow forms, it will be fine.
I use mine mainly for undercutting bowl rims (much safer than using a gouge!), and it is excellent for that. I have been tempted to try removing the handle, so that I can fit a much longer one, but the handle seems to be on pretty tight, and doesn't want to come off! ](*,)
For larger hollow work I am torn between getting the Roly Munro hollower (Trev the Turner highly recommends this) , or the Woodcut Perform System. Both get good reviews, although the Munro is leading slightly at the moment simply because it is easier to sharpen!
Regards
Gary
I have one of those. It is OK for hollowing small items, but isn't very practical for larger project for two reasons:-
1) The cutter is very small, so removing large amounts of wood takes AGES.
2) The handle isn't really long enough, so if you are working in the bottom of a deep (more than 6") vessel, it is hard to control the cutter, which results in a lot of vibration, which gets very tiring very quickly. :?
If you only intend using it on small hollow forms, it will be fine.
I use mine mainly for undercutting bowl rims (much safer than using a gouge!), and it is excellent for that. I have been tempted to try removing the handle, so that I can fit a much longer one, but the handle seems to be on pretty tight, and doesn't want to come off! ](*,)
For larger hollow work I am torn between getting the Roly Munro hollower (Trev the Turner highly recommends this) , or the Woodcut Perform System. Both get good reviews, although the Munro is leading slightly at the moment simply because it is easier to sharpen!
Regards
Gary
Duiker
Established Member
I've got one of these and the Woodcut system (arrived this week :lol: ) and I have to agree with Gary. I'm no proffesional but the Woodcut is awsome and makes bowl hollowing a peice of cake, I love it!!!!
cd
Established Member
Thanks to you both,
I was mainly looking at smaller hollow work (Larger pieces will have to wait for a new lathe
). Long term I'm thinking of a deep hollowing system but at the moment I'm looking to go a bit further than my home made tools will take me. 6" depth was probably the max I was looking to use the tool for.
How easy are the cutters to sharpen :?: I have the woodturners jigs for the Tormek and there's one in there for sharpening small cutters but as I don't yet have any I've never used it.
cd
I was mainly looking at smaller hollow work (Larger pieces will have to wait for a new lathe
). Long term I'm thinking of a deep hollowing system but at the moment I'm looking to go a bit further than my home made tools will take me. 6" depth was probably the max I was looking to use the tool for.How easy are the cutters to sharpen :?: I have the woodturners jigs for the Tormek and there's one in there for sharpening small cutters but as I don't yet have any I've never used it.
cd
duncanh
Established Member
I have the straight version and it works really well. Obviously the size you can work to is limited, but for small projects it's good. The flat part under the bar seems to work well in stopping the tool turning under torque from the cut.
I don't know if you have the straight one yet, but it has the advantage of being able to use it as a shear scraper, but obviously you can't undercut as much as you can with the curved one.
I don't know how the cutter compares to the ones that came with mine, but I've not had to sharpen the main hollowing tip yet (though I've done less than 10 small projects).
I also have the Munro hollowing tool for larger projects and I'm very happy with it. I haven't used it to it's full potential yet though. I haven't had to sharpen a cutter on that either yet, though as Gary says, it does look very easy. It came with at least one spare cutter. One thing I have tried is using the tear drop shear scraper from the Sorby tool on the end of the Monro to give a more solid scraper with a longer reach - it works but looks a bit ugly!
Duncan
I don't know if you have the straight one yet, but it has the advantage of being able to use it as a shear scraper, but obviously you can't undercut as much as you can with the curved one.
I don't know how the cutter compares to the ones that came with mine, but I've not had to sharpen the main hollowing tip yet (though I've done less than 10 small projects).
I also have the Munro hollowing tool for larger projects and I'm very happy with it. I haven't used it to it's full potential yet though. I haven't had to sharpen a cutter on that either yet, though as Gary says, it does look very easy. It came with at least one spare cutter. One thing I have tried is using the tear drop shear scraper from the Sorby tool on the end of the Monro to give a more solid scraper with a longer reach - it works but looks a bit ugly!
Duncan
Taffy Turner
Established Member
CD,
The cutters are a doddle to sharpen (at least they are if you have a diamond stone, or an oil stone).
All you do is remove the cutter from the tool, place it top side down on the stone and rub it back and forth by hand until it is sharp.
It is best to sharpen it regularly, as if you let it get too blunt, it doesn't half make your hand ache if you have keep rubbing for long!
For what you want to use it for, you should find the tool ideal. Also, it is a fairly low cost option compared with most of the deep hollowing systems, which are circa £200+.
Regards
Gary
The cutters are a doddle to sharpen (at least they are if you have a diamond stone, or an oil stone).
All you do is remove the cutter from the tool, place it top side down on the stone and rub it back and forth by hand until it is sharp.
It is best to sharpen it regularly, as if you let it get too blunt, it doesn't half make your hand ache if you have keep rubbing for long!
For what you want to use it for, you should find the tool ideal. Also, it is a fairly low cost option compared with most of the deep hollowing systems, which are circa £200+.
Regards
Gary
cd
Established Member
Thanks all for your help.
All being well it should be with me on moday so I'll let you know how I get on.
cd
All being well it should be with me on moday
so I'll let you know how I get on.cd
cd
Established Member
It arrived today so I had to go and have a play erm practice.
A bit of wood from the firewood pile started to look as if it was beggining to get some where.
But I was trying a bit too hard for thin walls on my first practice
On a positive note I did get to see inside and had managed a nice even thickness before I slipped.
First impressions though, its a nice :tool:
cd
so I had to go and have a play erm practice.A bit of wood from the firewood pile started to look as if it was beggining to get some where.
But I was trying a bit too hard for thin walls on my first practice
On a positive note I did get to see inside and had managed a nice even thickness before I slipped.
First impressions though, its a nice :tool:
cd
Taffy Turner
Established Member
CD,
Oops! We have all been there mate!
Frustrating isn't it! :evil: :evil:
As you say, at least the walls were nice and even!
For learning this type of work, a piece of wet sycamore is ideal, as when it gets thin, you can shine a light through it, so you can see how even the walls are.
Craft Supplies do a special light for this - it is a really bright LED on the end of a flexible stalk, so you slip it into the vessel, switch it on and hey-presto, you can see which bits are thin, and which ones need more taking out. (I tried to find a link to the light thingy, but it doesn't appear on their website, although I definately saw it in the catalogue).
Regards
Gary
Oops! We have all been there mate!
Frustrating isn't it! :evil: :evil:
As you say, at least the walls were nice and even!
For learning this type of work, a piece of wet sycamore is ideal, as when it gets thin, you can shine a light through it, so you can see how even the walls are.
Craft Supplies do a special light for this - it is a really bright LED on the end of a flexible stalk, so you slip it into the vessel, switch it on and hey-presto, you can see which bits are thin, and which ones need more taking out. (I tried to find a link to the light thingy, but it doesn't appear on their website, although I definately saw it in the catalogue).
Regards
Gary
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